Amos 8
1 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
Nanku engakutshengiswa nguThixo Wobukhosi: isitsha esilezithelo ezivuthiweyo.
2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
Wangibuza wathi, “Kuyini okubonayo, Amosi?” Mina ngaphendula ngathi, “Yisitsha esilezithelo ezivuthiweyo.” UThixo wasesithi kimi, “Isikhathi sabantu bami bako-Israyeli sesifikile; kangisabaxoleli futhi.
3 The songs of the temple will be wailing in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh. “The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.
Ngalolosuku, izingoma zethempelini zizaphenduka zibe yikulila. Izidumbu ezinengi kakhulu zidaklazelwe indawo yonke! Thulani!” Kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi.
4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
Zwanini lokhu, lina elincindezela abaswelayo njalo lichitha labayanga elizweni,
5 saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
lisithi, “Ukuthwasa kweNyanga Entsha kuzaphela nini ukuze sithengise amabele, leSabatha lidlule ukuze sithengise ingqoloyi na?” Sinciphise isilinganiso, sikhweze intengo siqilibezele ngezilinganiso zenkohliso,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”
sithenge abayanga ngesiliva, abaswelayo sibathenge ngamanyathelo, sithengise lamakhoba ngengqoloyi.
7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.
UThixo ufungile ngokuziQhenya kukaJakhobe wathi, “Angisoze ngakhohliswa loba yini abayenzileyo.
8 Won’t the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
Ilizwe kaliyikuthuthumela ngalokhu yini labo bonke abahlala kulo kabayikulila na? Ilizwe lonke lizaqubuka njengeNayili; lizadungeka beselitshona phansi njengomfula waseGibhithe.
9 It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
Ngalolosuku,” kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi, “ngizakwenza ilanga litshone emini, ngenze emhlabeni kube mnyama emini ekhanyayo.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
Ngizaphendula imikhosi yenu yokukhonza ibe yikulila lokuhlabelela kwenu konke kube yikukhala. Lonke ngizalenza ligqoke amasaka, njalo liphuce amakhanda enu. Lesosikhathi ngizasenza sifane lokulilela indodana eyiyo yodwa lokuphela kwaso kube njengosuku olubuhlungu.
11 Behold, the days come,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing Yahweh’s words.
Insuku ziyeza, kutsho uThixo Wobukhosi, lapho engizathumela khona indlala elizweni hatshi indlala yokudla kumbe ukomela amanzi, kodwa indlala yokuzwa amazwi kaThixo.
12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word, and will not find it.
Abantu bazaphamazela besuka elwandle besiya elwandle, njalo bazule kusukela enyakatho kusiya empumalanga, bedinga ilizwi likaThixo, kodwa kabayikulithola.
13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst.
Ngalolosuku izintombi ezinhle lezinsizwa eziqinileyo zizaqaleka ngenxa yokoma.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives,’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ they will fall, and never rise up again.”
Bona labo abafunga ngesono seSamariya, loba bathi, ‘Ngeqiniso njengoba unkulunkulu wakho ephila, wena Dani,’ loba bathi, ‘Ngeqiniso njengoba unkulunkulu waseBherishebha ephila,’ bazakuwa, bangaphindi bavuke futhi.”
